Sense of Self
Letterpress and Crochet project: Sense of Self
2025
Quilt and Book
In my letterpress classes I had an ongoing facination with the relationship between crochet and letterpress work. They felt related to me because in both practices small pieces come together to make a larger product. They also both have a meditative quaility. This was my last project during my undergraduate studies at SAIC and I knew that I wanted it to be something that celebrated the progress I've made but also emphasized the work I will continue to do.
An important feature of my time at SAIC was how much progress I made when it came to getting to know myself. As a teenager and in my early years in undergrad I thought that I had everything figured out. As time went on and projects unfolded I continued to learn more about myself and make deposits into the larger bank of my personality. I didn't realize that this was going on until my last year when I was looking back at all I had done. I often felt anxious about what's to come or who I'm becoming, but this project serves to remind me that everything I do is just a small part of the giant whole that I am.
This concept relates both to letterpress and crochet because of the small parts that come together to create a piece in those mediums. The product was a large quilt that I can wrap around myself, and three editions of a book with poetry and compositions using photo polymer plate stamps made from images of the crocheted squares.
Click and scroll through the whole book below:
Sense of Self: Process
2025
The process to create the crocheted typeface had many steps. First I created pixel patterns for each of the letters and characters that I wanted to include. I used a method called filet crochet which utilizes positive and negative space to display an image. I created each square with a hook and yarn then scanned them to get a clear and flat image of the positive and negative space. I adjusted the levels so I had purely black and white then reduced their size to better match the page size I would be using. I made negatives of the squares and exposed photo polymer plates. Sections where the light gets through to the polymer harden and the protected areas wash away creating a surface that can create a relief print. I was able to move the squares around on the page using a high adjusted base then registered the words of the poem in places that seem to connect the blocks of crochet squares. Since I was using images to expose the polymer, the orignal squares were uneffected and could then be stictched together to create the quilt.
Below are images of each stage of the progess. Hover over each of them to see more.
